The Wounds Don't Disappear
by wolfs1999
Summary: Adora and Catra are past the point of holding back when they fight, leading to both of them getting injured. While healing, Adora finds a new family and Catra finds that she might enjoy Scorpia's company more than she cares to admit.


Glimmer's pov:

"Retreat!" The desperate cry resonates through the battlefield as Catra is carried off by Scorpia. The feline woman appeared to be unconscious and bloody. She-ra stumbled across the field in the opposite direction as the Horde soldiers, blood on her face and outfit that doesn't appear to be all her own.

"Adora!" I cry out in alarm as I teleport over. "Are you ok?" Despite being so much smaller than the blonde warrior, I reach over to help my tall friend stand.

"I'm fine, " came a surprisingly cold response as she bats me away. "It's not my blood. Catra, she... She turned it into a life or death battle. It couldn't be avoided. I h-I had to, " her voice breaks and a tear falls down her face. "She left me with no other choice. I didn't want to hurt her like that."

"Did you kill her?" Unable to hold her curiosity, Frosta was quick to ask. Despite being curious herself, Mermista clasps her hands over the young princess's mouth.

"No. I couldn't bring myself to do that, but with injuries that severe, Shadow Weaver will kill her so they won't have to waste supplies. Weakness isn't tolerated in the Horde. Being injured in battle is even worse because you're showing that weakness to your enemy. If you get hurt and you don't kill the person why injured you in battle, it's a death sentence. She'll be shipped off to Beast Island with no supplies or locked in a cell so they can watch her bleed or starve to death." The princesses' faces all turn a few shades paler at the thought of people being raised in that kind of environment, people like Adora.

"Do they threaten to send you to Beast Island often?" Frosta asks, having pulled her way out of Mermista's grip.

"All the time, " came She-ra's quiet response. "We should go."

"Aren't you going to transform back into Adora?" Bow asks, knowing Adora would be easier to carry than She-ra if they needed to carry the woman back. It was something we all knew and with how much blood she was covered in, we all knew she would likely need help getting home.

"No." Her voice was like icy daggers stabbing into my heart. Her tone was colder than I had ever heard it before.

"Oh, ok, " I muttered to myself since Adora was already leaving. The blonde warrior walked fast, seeming to not care if anyone could keep up with her. Perfuma uses her powers to keep up with Adora, but the bloody woman doesn't acknowledge her. Mom greets us when we get back, immediately fretting over Adora when she notices the blood.

"Are you alright?" Mom reaches out to comfort her, but she ignores the Queen and retreats immediately to her room.

"The blood is Catra's. She probably just needs some time to accept it, " I offer as an explanation.

Bow's pov:

Everyone was worried about Adora. After we got back from the battle, she locked herself in her room and she's refused to come out or accept any food. It's already been two days and Glimmer had been ready to teleport in after dinner the first day. Every day Glimmer cried into my shoulder after screaming at her mom, begging for her permission to teleport in to check on our friend. This was the first time I actually saw her obey her mother's orders and it was only because Angella had explained that it might be bad for Adora's mental health if we just busted in without permission, but Adora ignored us any time we knocked on her locked door. Finally, after the third day, Angella grants Glimmer permission to teleport herself, the Queen, and I in to check on Adora. Nothing could have possibly prepared us for what we saw when we entered. Adora was sitting in the corner curled into a tiny ball, her back to us and her shirt off exposing terrible and infected cuts starting at her left shoulder stretching all the way across to her right hip under her underwear, torn pants on the floor with a bloody shirt and ruined jacket.

"Adora?" Glimmer's soft voice breaks the silence that once engulfed the room, startling Adora. The former Horde soldier spins around to face us, stumbling to her feet and standing at attention. Now that she was facing us, we could see four cuts digging into her abdomen running parallel to the top of her underwear, another four running parallel the bottom of her sports bra. There was also a nasty purple bruise between them and several, thankfully smaller, cuts on her face. Her right hand's fingers looked swollen and wrong.

"Please don't punish me! I can handle the injuries on my own! I don't need to be killed!" It takes me a second, but it suddenly dawns on me that that's why she told us Shadow Weaver might kill Catra over her injuries. She wanted us to understand why she didn't ask for help. She felt like she couldn't. She thought we would hurt her. I feel my heart split, half dropping to the pit of my stomach and the other lodging itself in my throat as a heavy air weighs down on my shoulders.

"We would never punish you for being injured, " Angella says softly, worry in her voice. She takes a step towards Adora, but the frightened and injured woman falls over herself trying to get away, freezing the Queen in her tracks.

"I failed! I'm sorry!" I decide to steer the conversation in a new direction since I knew reassuring probably wouldn't help in this situation.

"Why don't we go get some supplies for Adora?" I suggest and the blonde huffs, quickly walking over to her bed. She bends down and pushes bandages and food out from under it. A lot of the food was old and rotting and she needed a lot more than just bandages, the ones she had were useless anyway. The spoiled food stained them and made them unusable. There was also string with a needle tied to its end wrapped around everything, weaving in and out of the tangled mess. I realize with horror that she had grabbed it with the intent of sowing her own wounds up. No, she had to have taken this stuff awhile ago or the food would still be ok. She must have been preparing for if something like this happened.

"You've had these for a while, haven't you?" Angella asks the sorrow in her voice helps encourage the tears welling in my eyes to fall down my face. I try to swallow the lump in my throat and resist the urge to hold and comfort my hurting friend. It wouldn't help her, not now at least.

"Ever since the Battle of Bright Moon." Another quiet reply, this one barely audible. I force myself to look anywhere that's not my friends or Angella, I don't think I could handle seeing their broken faces right now.

"Alright. Bow, can you please dispose of the spoiled food and replace it with some good food, something that doesn't spoil so easy?" The Queen asks and I quickly do as I'm asked, grateful for the chance to go collect myself. Adora doesn't need to see me cry, it'll only make her feel guilty.

Angella's pov:

"Glimmer, go get more medical supplies. We need antibiotics, anything you can find to reduce pain or swelling, more needles and thread, more bandages, cold water, and a rag." She nods, wiping away the tears on her face as she teleports away. Adora was raised being taught all the wrong things, I feared what they taught her about crying. In any case, Bow and Glimmer needed a minute to collect themselves. They had to be strong now, we all did, for Adora. She's hurting physically and emotionally. It's going to be hard to pull her back to us, to show her that she's ok. To prove that we won't hurt her. I know my presence causes her to worry right now, especially when it's just the two of us in a room, so I leave without another word and wait outside her door. She knows that we're coming back, that we didn't abandon her. I reassure myself of this several times before worry starts to creep into my body. I begin to doubt what she knows when I hear her door crack open. I turn and offer her a kind smile, trying my best to not react when she flinches under my gaze. She hides behind the door, only slightly visible through the crack of it. I could make out a worried and terrified look on her face and it was obvious she was starting to curl up into herself even while standing. She looked like a scared kid. No, she was a scared kid. She was still just a child, but that was so easy to forget. She probably never got the opportunity to act like a kid. Instead, she was forced to hide her injuries and emotions. She was raised to be a soldier. I wish I could give her her childhood back.

"Sorry, " she mutters. "I thought you went to help Glimmer or Bow." So she was trying to escape then.

"No, I wanted to stay near you. We're here for you, Adora. Everyone at Bright Moon as well as the Princess Alliance. We will not let you get injured like this again and I apologize for not noticing your injuries sooner."

"I didn't want you to notice my injuries at all." I open my mouth to answer, to insist that I won't harm her and that I care about her and her safety, but at that moment we both hear Glimmer blink in. I hear her scream and drop the supplies when she doesn't immediately see that Adora is by the door. "I'm here, " Adora quietly calls out and I see Glimmer appear behind her. She too was hidden by the door, but I could see her reaching out to place a comforting on Adora's right shoulder from behind.

"Glimmer, no!" I all but scream. Adora might see the touch as an attack. We can't help her if she shuts us completely out again. We can't push our limits or push her boundaries in any way that isn't necessary for her overall health. My loud voice scares Adora and she shrinks back, bumping into Glimmer. This scares her again and she easily flips my daughter over her before running further into the room and further out of my sight. I open the door slowly, trying my best to not scare the poor child again but needing to check on both teens in the room.

"I'm ok!" Glimmer groans from the floor, slowly rolling over to her stomach to get up. "I just need a minute." I nod in understanding and turn my focus to the rest of the room, scanning it for signs of Adora. Those signs come from the bed in the form of small whimpers escaping the form hiding beneath it.

"Adora?" I call out quietly, taking a cautious step towards her. "It's ok, Adora. No one is upset with you, we know you didn't mean to flip Glimmer. It was just a response caused by your fear."

"Please leave me alone." Her voice was as broken as she is, a small whisper begging for mercy against the cruel world reminding me of the light flickering in her heart searching for what's been hidden from her. She's just a lost child searching for answers and all the world has ever done for her is torment her. She was tortured by the Fright Zone and now carries a heavy burden that I couldn't even imagine having to deal with, especially not at such a young age. She'll never feel safe because she'll never be able to truly relax. She'll always be in fight or flight mode, anxiety and fear carrying her through life.

"We won't leave you alone, not in the condition you're in. If you need a moment to collect yourself, that is fine, but we are not leaving this room."

"If I was in the Fright Zone, I would have been beaten half to death by now. Why are you trying so hard to help me? I failed!"

"Because this isn't the Fright Zone and we are not the Horde. This is Bright Moon, home of the Princess Alliance. We care about our comrades because they aren't soldiers, they're our friends and family. Adora, you are like family to me and I always keep my family as safe as I can."

"Then why is the King dead?" I know she didn't mean to say it, it was likely her infection causing a fever messing with her mind. Maybe it was the trauma she endured, but she did not mean what she said. Still, I could feel my anger rising and I knew Glimmer was upset by her words as well.

"People make mistakes, Adora. It's a part of life." I couldn't keep the edge out of my voice. Now she wouldn't come out for sure.

"I'm sorry, " came the muffled reply. I lay down on the floor by the bed and look at her. It was impressive how she had curled into such a small space.

"Please let us help you."


End file.
